Corporate Identity Theft: Understanding and Preventing It
Personal identity theft has been prevalent since the start of the Information Age - every year thousands of people report credit cards or bank accounts being accessed by unauthorized people, making fraudulent transactions that cost large sums of money.
This crime has now extended to corporate identity theft. Just as the name suggests, corporate identity theft is the misuse of a company’s identity for personal use.
There are several forms of corporate identity theft: setting up an online merchant account under a business name, going through trash to get sensitive information such as employee names or bank statements, hacking into the corporate website to corrupt the data presented, or creating a website with a similar domain name to draw traffic that otherwise would go to the company.
Taking Preventive Measures
All of these forms of corporate identity theft are preventable through various measures.
Maintenance of the website is most critical; in the age of the Internet, most identity theft takes place online. Have IT staff monitor website access regularly, and include an email address on the home page for end users to report any unusual occurrences. For example, there have been cases in which a company website was hacked and pornographic material distributed through it. Obviously this was a major embarrassment for the company’s professional image. In order to prevent traffic stealing, a good practice would be to regularly check for similar domain names, or register commonly misspelled variations to prevent others from doing so.
Misplaced hard documents are another cause of rising corporate identity theft. Investing in a paper shredder to dispose of all documents after use is the most prudent way to prevent sensitive data from being leaked.
Finally, be sure that computer networks are secure. Regularly updated virus protection software, strong firewalls, adware and spyware blockers and secure passwords are good ways of maintaining a secure network. Have a strict policy about Internet use; employees that surf the Internet during work hours not only are being unproductive, they also put the integrity of the company at risk when accessing sites that could potentially deliver spyware or adware.
Following these guidelines will ensure the greatest chance possible of avoiding corporate identity theft. No matter how secure an organization may be, there is always an ingenious criminal who can think of a way to infiltrate. Never take for granted the infallibility of existing computer software or company policy. Always keep up-to-date with methods of protection, because potential identity thieves are certainly innovating constantly.
